Urinary incontinence is often divided to two main types: stress incontinence and urge incontinence. Stress incontinence corresponds to loss of urine as a result of an increase in abdominal pressure on the bladder. This increase in pressure may be caused due to coughing, sneezing, laughing, or making a movement, in particular lifting a heavy object. Stress incontinence is the most common type of incontinence and it mainly affects women. It takes place in general when the perineal muscles and the muscles of the floor of the pelvis are weakened, e.g. by pregnancies, childbirth, or menopause.
Urge incontinence corresponds to a sudden need to urinate, followed by an immediate contraction of the bladder. This contraction results in an involuntary loss of urine. Both men and women may be affected by this type of incontinence, in particular among older people. One of the reasons for such incontinence is a failure in the operation of the nervous system controlling the bladder.
Mixed incontinence is a combination of stress incontinence and of urge incontinence.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the figures.